Celebrating Garba Night at NEIU
Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) boasts its diversity as a means of attracting potential students, and with events such as Garba Night, it may have a good reason to.
NEIU's Indian Students Association (ISA) held its first Garba night, filled with traditional Indian food, music and dancing. Students from ISA said that Garba is a celebration that lasts nine days and takes place from mid evening until the early morning of the next day. They also said that while Garba doesn't have a specific date, it's normally celebrated every year around Oct. 16, in an Indian temple.
The festivities call for special attire for both men and women. The student said that women wear a colorful chaniya chori (a long embroidered skirt with a blouse and scarf that exposes the midriff) and the men wear a similarly colorful dajam sherwani (a snug fitting coat-like garment with pants).
ISA's Garba night was set up in NEIU's Physical Education Complex building with a quarter of the gym designated for eating and relaxing. The other quarter of the gym was for dancing and held a table alter for Amba Mata. Amba Mata is a mother-goddess incarnation of Lord Shiva's consort Parvati, sometimes referred to as Durga, according to the Bharatiya Temple of Lansing. "Amba Mata is God," said a student from ISA in explanation of the meaning behind Garba. The student went on to say they dance a traditional dance in a circle around the alter of Amba Mata to represent the fluidity and changeability of life, and the permanence of the fertility Goddess in contrast. The dances around Amba Mata are typically to songs specific about the Goddess, but now they take on a more modern twist as songs now include Bollywood tunes. Dances also include the use of Dandiya (colorful sticks) which are swung in circular motions.
Garba is an event that the ISA would like to continue to have annually, because not only would it raise awareness of Indian culture to NEIU, but it publically celebrates a part of their culture they don't want to forget.
Get Top Stories Delivered Weekly
Recent neiuindependent News Articles
Discuss This Article
GET TOP STORIES DELIVERED WEEKLY
FOLLOW OUR NEWSPAPER
LATEST NEIUINDEPENDENT NEWS
RECENT NEIUINDEPENDENT CLASSIFIEDS
OUTSIDE THE LINES
- A Story To Sing About
- The Gap in Gum Care: Why Caring For Your Teeth’s F...
- Top Tips for Signature Scents and Better-Smelling Laundry
- A Dog Trainer’s Top Tips to Support Pets Through Life S...
- Clear the Air of Indoor Pollutants This Spring
- Stroke & Dementia in Black Men: Tips for Staying Healthy...
- Hispanics and African Americans at Higher Risk for Eye...
- African Americans at Higher Risk for Eye Disease
- Infinity Kings: Final Book In A Favorite Fantasy Series
- What You Need To Know About Keratoconus and the iLink...
FROM AROUND THE WEB
- Don’t Let Diabetes Shortchange Your Golden Years
- No Child is Forgotten By Marine Toys for Tots
- Sweeten Your Springtime Salads With Healthy Chilean Grapes
- Young Author Translates 4,000-Year-Old Text to Reveal...
- Keeping Cool and Energy-efficient Amid America’s “...
- Addressing Sarcopenia with a Healthy Diet
- Subway’s New Wraps Elevate Eating on the Go
- Family Teacher Conference Topics Beyond Academics
- Youth Take Down Tobacco
- BookTrib’s Bites: Four Reads to Kickoff Spring
COLLEGE PRESS RELEASES
- Shoff Promotions Comic Book & Sports Card Show
- Semiconductor Research Corp unveils 2024 Research Call, $13.8M Funding
- Charles River Associates Opens Second Scholarship Cycle, Expands to the UK
- BLUMHOUSE AND AMC THEATRES LAUNCH FIRST-EVER HALFWAY TO HALLOWEEN FILM FESTIVAL
- THE GEN Z IMPERATIVE: LISTEN TO FEELINGS AND GIVE GEN Z A VOICE